Vanessa just sprang this famously horrible Scandinavian candy on us -- Lakrisal, which los Internets say is made almost entirely of sugar, liquorice and ammonium chloride. Her Norwegian friend says Lakrisal is as popular over there as Altoids are here. Think salty liquorice, and be brave.
Me, I refuse to be defeated by food. I've met this particular flavor before and worked on getting so I could eat it, starting with preserved salted plums. Still, I don't know if I can get myself to choke down the second Lakrisal I took from the pack. As Vanessa said, the experience just gets worse as you go.
After watching me struggle for several minutes, Julia tried a Lakrisal. She said the flavor reminds her of soy sauce, as though this were soy sauce candy. Unthinkable, right? And perhaps life-changing. "Nothing will ever taste good again," she said.
Now we want to test the Lakrisal on Bill. If he reads this post and decides to try them -- the flavor he could resist, but the dare? -- we'll let you know. Meanwhile, if anyone understands the science of why this taste is so hard to take, please let us know.